The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-03-26
Our Q9lio.
Hurry and Despatch.

0CoPdbOhs
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
Among the many causes of poor and in
efficient work is the habit of hurry, which
takes. possession of some busy people
Having, or imagining they have, more to
do in given time than can be done prop
erly, they grow confused, agitated and
nervous; and, under this pressure, they
proceed with the work in hand without
requisite deliberation and care, perhaps
omitting parts of it, sometimes important
parts, and producing at last an imperfect
and inferior performance which can neither
be permanent nor satisfactory.
There is hardly any employment, from
the simplest manual work to the most COM
plex and difficult mental labor, that does
not suffer from this cause The dwelling
house in process of building is to be finish
ed at certain time. With proper fore
thought and system it would have been
done, but the time approaches and the
work is still incomplete. The future occu-
pants are impatient, the contractor is anx-
ious, the workmen are driven, the work is
hurried thr0Igfraud annoyance, discomfort
and, sometimes, danger ensue, and repairs
are soon found necessary. The business
man undertakes more than he can manage,
the days are not long enough for his needs,
he is agitated by the constant pressure,
driven by conflicting claims, his business
suffers for the want of clear and cool
head, his health suffers from continual and
unrelaxed exertion, his family suffers from
his deterioration and general disaster ensues.
The physician, with many other calls to
make, hurries through the visit, neglecting
some important symptom, and his patient
dies; the lawyer hurries through his plea,
and loses his case; the preacher hurries
through the preparation of his sermon, and
fails to make an impression; the artist
hurries on his picture to completion, and
his best conception is not there; the teach
er hurries through prescribed course of
instruction, and the class is left destitute of
the more important elements of knowledge.
1t is not too much to say that large pro-
portion of the unhappiness, the Ignorance,
the loss of property, and even the loss of
life that is endured in the world is be
directly traced to the hurry and drive which
characterizes so much of the labor per-
formed
The chief motives that lead men to this
practice are the ambition to accomplish im-
possibilities, and the desire to make up for
lost time Industrious people, who lack
Judgment and forethought, often under
take more than they can do, and in trying
to resist the inevitable they come to grief.
On the other hand, the idle or self-indul-
gent, conscious of having wasted or misap-
propriated hours that should have been
consecrated to labor, try to subvert natures
inexorable law by hurried efforts in the
remnant of time left to them. Only stern
experience can teach them that all such hopes
are vain, that each hour has its own mis-
sion to fulfill, and that, if once lost, it is
lost forever.
Many persons not only drift into these
hurried ways, but pride themselves upon
them. They boast of their speed and con-
trast it with the slower measures of their
more deliberate neighbors. They fatter
themselves upon their despatch and hold
themselves of more value on that aecohRt
| Sfowuess in work, lingering or loin
over what is to be done, is not to be recom4
mended. On the contrary, energy and
vigor will prompt the healthy and industri-
GUS man to labor steadily and rapidly,
while peelecting nothing that is needed to
perfect his work. But this is verysaiffer-
ent from the agitated and excited hurry
which has been mentioned. An old
writer says truly: "No two things differ
more than hurry and despatch. Hurry is
the mark of weak mind, despatch of
strong one." The man of despatch is cool,
calm and collected; he views the task before
him with reference to his ability operform
it; he allows sufficient time to do Injustice,
then he pursues it in every detail, rapidly
and continuously, but without forgetting
or omitting anything by which he can per-
fect il, He is then free to devote himself
to the next thing, and in this way he will
accomplish far more and far better work
than could be done by any excited and hur-
ried performance Bacon says 81 knew
wise man, who had it for a byeword,
when he saw men hasten to 4 conclusion
Stay little that We may make an end the
sooner,
Besides the superior character Of his
achievements, the man of calm despatch
will, other things being equal, live longer,
more healthfal and happier life than he
who uses precipitous haste. Hurry and
worry, which usually go together, ruin
more lives and destroy more happiness than
any amount of regular, systematic labor.
Any one may pEoEe this for himself by
Noticing his own sensations after season
of hurried and agitated effort The fa-
tigue and reaction tell forcibly on the
strength and vigor, and unfit him for sub
sequent labor, Certainly a life thus spent
must be a short and unsatisfactory one.
1t would be well for each one to bear in
mind that there is alway time enough for
him to do well all that he is called upon to
do at all. IF he undertake more than this
he does injustice both to his work and to
himself On the other hand, if he waste
the time which is entrusted to him, let him
not hope to atone for it by extra haste and
hurry. When we have learned to avoid
wasting time on the one hand, aud crowd
ing it on the other, We shall begin to ap-
pFeciate its true value,